I took delivery of a silver Governor 2 days ago and took it to the range today. This gun wasn't bought for any particular purpose other than my interest in owning and shooting a .410 revolver. I do a lot of shooting with handguns from an 1877 Baby Russian to current production Smith's and SIG's. Lately, I've been shooting a lot of 12 gauge buckshot and slugs, so the Governor just appealed to me. I'd never fired a .410 round in my life before today!
On initial inspection, fit and finish were excellent. The matte silver finish is very well done. Because of the oversize cylinder, the gun looks massive, but the scandium alloy frame keeps the weight down to under 30 ounces. The trigger has a smooth but somewhat heavy DA pull and a typical clean-breaking 4.5 pound SA pull.
I fired 20 rounds each of 3 different .410 defense loads - the Federal 000 buck (4 pellets), the Federal #4 shot load (7/16 ounce), and the Hornady Triple defense (.410 slug and 2 .35 caliber balls). I also fired 30 rounds of .45 Colt with a 250 grain cast bullet at standard velocity (my hand loads). I used the small Transtar federal silhouette targets, which are smaller than life-size. I fired at 7 and 15 yards for the shotshells and 50 feet for the .45 Colt loads.
The #4 shot loads did well at 7 yards, with virtually all the pellets on the silhouette and a nice symmetrical pattern. At 15 yards, the pattern was thin and I have no idea what penetration would be like at this distance. This would be a good anti-snake or anti-carjacking load, but probably not useful at greater distances.
The 4 pellet 000 buck is probably the most useful load. These are .36 caliber balls (the same as a Colt Navy percussion revolver) and getting hit by 4 at a time should be very effective. At 7 yards, 10 rounds put 40 pellets into a 7 inch circle and at 15 yards all the pellets were on the silhouette with a score of 177/200 (these targets have scoring rings from 2-5). I was impressed by this load.
The Hornady slug and ball load was almost as good at 7 yards as the 000 buck loads, but had a lot of vertical stringing at 15 yards.
The .45 Colt loads were fired at 50 feet at 25 yard bullseye targets. 10 round groups were 4 inches across, with 8 out of 10 shots in a tight group. This is similar performance to my other .45 snubbies (325PD and 625-11). The gun shot to a 6 o'clock hold with this load. It will probably shoot to point of aim with 185 grain bullets.
I did not try any .45 ACP rounds today. You have to use the supplied 2 or 6 round moon clips to shoot .45 ACP and you can't use .45 Auto Rim.
The bottom line for me is that I really like this revolver. It has an oddball appearance that some people just don't like (that's how I felt when the Taurus Judge first appeared). I think the development of ammo specifically for these guns has made them much more effective than early reports with shotgun ammo suggested. Other than enjoying it at the range, I'm not sure yet what I'll do with this gun, but I just ordered another 400 rounds of the Federal 000 buck loads from SGAmmo!
On initial inspection, fit and finish were excellent. The matte silver finish is very well done. Because of the oversize cylinder, the gun looks massive, but the scandium alloy frame keeps the weight down to under 30 ounces. The trigger has a smooth but somewhat heavy DA pull and a typical clean-breaking 4.5 pound SA pull.
I fired 20 rounds each of 3 different .410 defense loads - the Federal 000 buck (4 pellets), the Federal #4 shot load (7/16 ounce), and the Hornady Triple defense (.410 slug and 2 .35 caliber balls). I also fired 30 rounds of .45 Colt with a 250 grain cast bullet at standard velocity (my hand loads). I used the small Transtar federal silhouette targets, which are smaller than life-size. I fired at 7 and 15 yards for the shotshells and 50 feet for the .45 Colt loads.
The #4 shot loads did well at 7 yards, with virtually all the pellets on the silhouette and a nice symmetrical pattern. At 15 yards, the pattern was thin and I have no idea what penetration would be like at this distance. This would be a good anti-snake or anti-carjacking load, but probably not useful at greater distances.
The 4 pellet 000 buck is probably the most useful load. These are .36 caliber balls (the same as a Colt Navy percussion revolver) and getting hit by 4 at a time should be very effective. At 7 yards, 10 rounds put 40 pellets into a 7 inch circle and at 15 yards all the pellets were on the silhouette with a score of 177/200 (these targets have scoring rings from 2-5). I was impressed by this load.
The Hornady slug and ball load was almost as good at 7 yards as the 000 buck loads, but had a lot of vertical stringing at 15 yards.
The .45 Colt loads were fired at 50 feet at 25 yard bullseye targets. 10 round groups were 4 inches across, with 8 out of 10 shots in a tight group. This is similar performance to my other .45 snubbies (325PD and 625-11). The gun shot to a 6 o'clock hold with this load. It will probably shoot to point of aim with 185 grain bullets.
I did not try any .45 ACP rounds today. You have to use the supplied 2 or 6 round moon clips to shoot .45 ACP and you can't use .45 Auto Rim.
The bottom line for me is that I really like this revolver. It has an oddball appearance that some people just don't like (that's how I felt when the Taurus Judge first appeared). I think the development of ammo specifically for these guns has made them much more effective than early reports with shotgun ammo suggested. Other than enjoying it at the range, I'm not sure yet what I'll do with this gun, but I just ordered another 400 rounds of the Federal 000 buck loads from SGAmmo!
